How is sustainability reshaping supply chains globally and in Vietnam?

Sustainability is fundamentally changing what customers expect from supply chains. Increasingly, multinational companies are more focused on two major priorities: decarbonised supply chains and circular economy solutions.

Today, decarbonisation is driving many customer conversations. Companies want access to lower-carbon transportation through battery electric vehicles, hydrotreated vegetable oil for road transport, sustainable marine fuel for ocean freight, and sustainable aviation fuel for air freight. They are also looking for logistics providers that can support energy-efficient and energy-producing warehouses, charging infrastructure, and transparent carbon reporting.

At the same time, circular economy requirements are rising rapidly. Customers are looking for partners that can support reverse logistics, circular packaging, repair services, waste recovery, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compliance. Increasingly, manufacturers are asking how products, packaging and materials can remain in circulation longer rather than becoming waste. As more customers get more sophisticated about closed-loop and circular product streams – so too do they expect similar sophistication from their logistics partners.

At DSV, we believe sustainability should start with impact. Too often, companies begin with reporting requirements or marketing solutions. Our philosophy is to first create real operational improvements that benefit customers and their customers, then scale, measure and report those outcomes. Sustainability is most effective when it is embedded into how supply chains operate every day.

How does DSV help customers balance sustainability investments with cost efficiency?

Not all sustainability initiatives are equal. Some require investment, such as battery electric vehicles, solar installations, charging infrastructure or advanced warehouse technologies. Others require operational excellence rather than capital expenditure, such as optimising transportation networks, reducing empty miles, improving warehouse utilisation, optimising operations tools like Building Management Systems (BMSs) and Warehouse Management System, or redesigning inventory flows.

Our approach follows a simple hierarchy. First, optimise the supply chain. The most sustainable tonne of carbon is often the tonne that was never created because waste and inefficiency were removed from the system.

Second, pursue direct decarbonisation through initiatives such as energy-efficient warehouses, rooftop solar, BEVs and lower-carbon fuels.

Third, where customers wish to go further, we can support indirect decarbonisation mechanisms such as book-and-claim solutions that help scale sustainable fuels across the market.

We evaluate sustainability investments the same way we evaluate any business investment. Some deliver direct financial returns. Others improve resilience, support customer requirements, reduce risk, enhance market access or strengthen compliance. The objective is not to maximise sustainability spending. The objective is to maximise business impact while supporting long-term decarbonisation goals.

What is DSV doing to integrate sustainability into its logistics operations in Vietnam?

Sustainability is integrated into how DSV operates its facilities and logistics services in Vietnam. Our focus is practical: improving operational performance while reducing environmental impact. One important area is warehouse efficiency. We continue to invest in better lighting, optimised cooling systems, BMSs, and the electrification of material handling equipment. Before generating renewable energy, we believe it is important to first reduce and optimise energy consumption wherever possible.

We are also expanding rooftop solar installations at selected facilities as part of our broader effort to decarbonise warehouse operations. These projects are rarely done in isolation and often require close collaboration between customers, landlords, developers and utilities. Sustainability is ultimately a partnership effort.

In addition, we are helping customers prepare for the growing shift towards circular economy requirements. This includes reducing plastics usage, supporting circular packaging solutions, digitising processes to reduce paper consumption, and helping customers address extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations that increasingly affect regional and cross-border supply chains.

Ultimately, our goal is simple: create real operational improvements first, then scale and measure the benefits. By making logistics operations more efficient, we can support both business performance and sustainability outcomes at the same time.

How is DSV partnering with industrial park operators and manufacturers to advance sustainability across the supply chain?

Partnership is at the heart of sustainability. Many people imagine sustainability as something a single company can implement on its own. In reality, some of the most impactful projects require coordination across multiple stakeholders.

For example, a warehouse solar project may involve the logistics provider, the customer, the landlord, the solar developer, the fire prevention and fighting police, and the local utility provider. The technology itself is often the easy part. Aligning all the stakeholders is usually the greater challenge.

The same applies to decarbonised transportation, charging infrastructure and circular economy solutions.

With manufacturers, we are increasingly supporting transportation and warehousing along with repair services, reverse logistics, circular packaging programmes, waste recovery streams and EPR compliance logistics. We are also seeing growing interest in designing supply chains for circularity from the outset–making products easier to repair, recover, refurbish or disassemble.

The next phase of sustainability will be driven by ecosystems working together, rather than individual companies acting independently.